The losses of D David Carle (heart condition) and F Stepan Novotny (major-junior) have trimmed DU’s incoming freshman class to four. Question is, will the Pios add more players?

Probably not, according to DU assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Steve Miller. Carle will attend DU and keep his scholarship, and Novotny’s full deal likely will be invested among current walkons, Miller said.

In my mind, Novotny’s loss isn’t that big a deal. He was asked to think about deferring his deal until 2009 because of the program returns 11 of its top 12 forwards, and you know No. 1 recruit Joe Colborne is going to be among the top 12, so the Pios are going to be just fine up front.

In addition to Colborne, who went 16th overall in the recent NHL draft to Boston, the Pios add C/W Nate Dewhurst and Colorado native Luke Salazar. Like Colborne, Dewhurst will be on a full-ride and will have every opportunity to play. That means 13 guys, including 11 with experience, will battle for 12 spots.

So Novotny, in my mind, was expendable. He could have been one of those young, talented kids that need a ton of ice time to gain confidence … a work in progress. But without him, the team will put more experience out there.

The bigger question is what to do without Carle? He could have been the team’s top offensive defenseman this season. Miller says a healthy John Ryder and fellow sophomores-to-be Jon Cook and Joey Brehm will give the team a chance to have reliable depth.

The top six D-men will be seniors JP Testwuide and Patrick Mullen, junior Cody Brookwell, Ryder, sophomore Chris Nutini and freshman John Lee. Senior Julian Marcuzzi, Cook and Brehm will provide depth.

Certainly no Aaron McKenzies, Ryan Caldwells, Brett Skinners, Matt Carles or Chris Butlers in the mix, but I’m told Ryder and Lee could become good two-way players at this level. We’ll see.